Powys merges care director post with health board chief exec role

Powys County Council is to merge its post of strategic director of care and wellbeing with the chief executive’s role at a local health board.

It is the first time such a move has been approved in Wales, the BBC has reported.

A report to council said: “The Welsh Assembly Government are aware of the proposals and are supportive provided the reporting lines and governance arrangements between the two organisations are clearly established.”

However, councillors ruled out a full merger between the two organisations after consultants KPMG highlighted a number of barriers. The BBC said these included the local health board’s £20m deficit and different decision-making processes. The report did identify potential savings of between £6m and £14m had the merger gone through.

Chris Mann, the chairman of Powys’ local health board, said: “The health board had already demonstrated its commitment to joint working when it approved the proposal at its August meeting.

“The endorsement by the county council means that we can now move forward on this important initiative which will deliver improved and integrated services for the people of Powys.”

The BBC said plans for a joint chief executive have been in place since March 2009, and that these were followed by an agreement to merge. The KPMG report has now thrown that into doubt, it said.